SHIFT

10.16.12

Cuba to End ‘Exit Visa’

Alejandro Ernesto / AFP / GettyImages

Life just got a little easier for Cubans who want to travel abroad. The Cuban government announced Tuesday that it was lifting the requirement that all citizens who want to leave the country obtain an exit visa. The new regulations, which go into effect Jan. 13, leave some wiggle room for the government to deny trips in cases that would affect national security or diminish the country’s professional class. Experts say the government is loosening the restrictions in the hopes that more Cubans travel to earn money elsewhere and bring it back to the island’s struggling economy.